The 1987–88 season was the 108th season of competitive football in England.
Diary of the season 3 July 1987 – Chelsea sign defender Tony Dorigo from Aston Villa for £475,000.Tony Dorigo: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 8 June 2013
6 July 1987 – Nottingham Forest's Dutch midfielder Johnny Metgod signs for Tottenham Hotspur in a £250,000 deal.
7 July 1987 – England goalkeeper Peter Shilton moves to Derby County from Southampton for £90,000.Peter Shilton: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 8 June 2013
9 July 1987 – Manchester United sign Arsenal defender Viv Anderson for £250,000.Viv Anderson: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 8 June 2013 Former Queens Park Rangers and England forward Gerry Francis, 36, is appointed player-manager of Third Division side Bristol Rovers as successor to Bobby Gould who moved to Wimbledon last month.
14 July 1987 – Peter Beardsley becomes the most expensive player to move between British clubs when he joins Liverpool in a £1.9 million deal from Newcastle United.
15 July 1987 – Ray Harford, first-team coach, is promoted to the manager's seat at Luton Town following the resignation of John Moore. Coventry City more than double their record transfer outlay with a £750,000 move for Chelsea striker David Speedie.
17 July 1987 – Portsmouth prepare for their return to the First Division with a £60,000 move for Wrexham midfielder Barry Horne.Barry Horne: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 8 June 2013
21 July 1987 – Tottenham Hotspur and England midfielder Glenn Hoddle moves to AS Monaco for £800,000 on a three-year contract. Manchester United get a £300,000 insurance payout from The Football Association following the injury enforced retirement of 29-year-old goalkeeper Gary Bailey.
22 July 1987 – Scunthorpe United announce that they will leave the Old Showground at the end of the season and move to a new stadium in the town's suburbs – the first relocation of a Football League club since Southend United moved to Roots Hall in 1955.
24 July 1987 – Manchester City are reported to have made an approach for out of favour Liverpool midfielder John Wark. Watford sign prolific Reading striker Trevor Senior for £325,000.
29 July 1987 – Wimbledon sign defenders Terry Phelan from Swansea City for £100,000 Terry Phelan: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 8 June 2013 and Eric Young from Brighton & Hove Albion for £70,000.Eric Young: Career statistics . soccerbase. Retrieved 8 June 2013 Chelsea striker Kerry Dixon withdraws his transfer request.
30 July 1987 – Manchester United complete the signing of striker Brian McClair after a tribunal orders them to pay £850,000 for the striker, originally valued at £2million by Celtic.
1 August 1987 – Everton defeat Coventry City 1–0 in the FA Charity Shield at Wembley Stadium, with Wayne Clarke scoring the only goal of the game.
3 August 1987 – The Today newspaper cancels its sponsorship of the Football League after just one year, and less than two weeks before the new season is due to begin.
6 August 1987 - Britain's first million-pound player, Trevor Francis, returns to Britain when Graeme Souness signs him for Rangers in a £70,000 deal from Atalanta of Italy.
7 August 1987 – Portsmouth midfielder Mick Kennedy is fined £5,000 for claiming in a national newspaper that he was "the hardest man in football and proud of my reputation".
8 August 1987 – The Football League begins its centenary celebrations by hosting a match against a Rest of the World XI at Wembley. Diego Maradona and Gary Lineker are in the side beaten by a Football League XI.
11 August 1987 – Former Leeds United and England manager Don Revie, 60, announces that he is suffering from motor neurone disease, which was diagnosed in May this year.
12 August 1987 – Barclays Bank become the Football League's new sponsors in a three-year deal worth in the region of £5million, while Portsmouth prepare for their first top division campaign since the 1950s by paying Leeds United £285,000 for striker Ian Baird.
15 August 1987 – The Football League season begins. In the First Division, Queens Park Rangers record the biggest win of the day by beating West Ham United 3–0. Champions Everton beat Norwich City 1–0, and Liverpool win 2–1 away to Arsenal. Scarborough, new members after their promotion to the Fourth Division from the GM Vauxhall Conference, hold fallen giants Wolverhampton Wanderers to a 2–2 draw, but crowd trouble results in 56 arrests.
18 August 1987 – Newly promoted First Division side Derby County pay a club record £760,000 for Southampton defender Mark Wright. UEFA announce that if the ban on English clubs in Europe is lifted in time for the 1988–89 UEFA Cup, there will only be two slots available for clubs in England due to their UEFA coefficient falling.
22 August 1987 – Brian McClair scores his first goal for Manchester United in their 2–0 home league win over Watford. In the first top flight South Coast derby, newly promoted Portsmouth draw 2–2 with Southampton at Fratton Park.
24 August 1987 – Striker Terry Gibson ends his unsuccessful 18-month spell at Manchester United and joins Wimbledon for £200,000.
25 August 1987 – Luton Town lift their ban on away fans and are allowed to compete in the League Cup, from which they were banned last season.
31 August 1987 – Manchester United finish August as First Division leaders, two points ahead of Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest. At the bottom of the table, Charlton Athletic, Sheffield Wednesday and Luton Town remain without a League win so far this season. In the Second Division, Plymouth Argyle and Barnsley lead the way on goal difference, but fancied Aston Villa are fourth from bottom.
3 September 1987 – Ten months after being sacked by Manchester United, Ron Atkinson returns to football for a second spell as manager of West Bromwich Albion.
4 September 1987 – Arsenal striker Charlie Nicholas hands in a transfer request after manager George Graham dropped him in favour of Perry Groves as strike-partner to new signing Alan Smith.
5 September 1987 – Gillingham score a club record 10–0 victory over Chesterfield, a week after defeating Southend 8–1..
9 September 1987 – 25 Liverpool fans are extradited to Belgium on manslaughter charges in connection to the Heysel Stadium disaster, in which 39 spectators (most of them Italian) were crushed to death at the 1985 European Cup Final.BBC On This Day | 9 | 1987: Liverpool fans to stand trial in Belgium. BBC News. Retrieved on 23 March 2011. Oxford United's £400,000 bid for Derby County winger Nigel Callaghan is accepted, but the player turns down the chance to move – less than a year after he joined the East Midlands club for barely a third of that amount.
12 September 1987 – Brazilian international striker Mirandinha gets his first goals for Newcastle, scoring twice in a 2–2 draw at Old Trafford against Manchester United.
16 September 1987 – Manager Bryan Hamilton brings Mike Newell to Leicester City from Luton Town for £350,000.
18 September 1987 – Defender David Bardsley moves between First Division strugglers Watford and Oxford United for £265,000. Charlton Athletic sign Wales striker Andy Jones from Third Division side Port Vale.
20 September 1987 – Everton sign Scotland midfielder Ian Wilson from Leicester City for £300,000. Liverpool defender Steve Nicol scores a hat-trick in a 4–1 away league win over Newcastle United.
23 September 1987 – Terry Venables, former manager of Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers, is sacked after three years as manager of Spanish giants FC Barcelona.
28 September 1987 – Tommy Docherty is appointed manager of GM Vauxhall Conference side Altrincham.
29 September 1987 – John Aldridge reaches the 10-goal mark in the league for Liverpool after just seven games, scoring a hat-trick in their 4–0 home win over Derby County.
30 September 1987 – Queens Park Rangers, without a top division league title to their name, finish the month as leaders of the First Division, three points ahead of Liverpool, who have two games in hand. Charlton Athletic are bottom, with four points from eight matches. Bradford City top the Second Division, with Hull City second. Crystal Palace and newly promoted Middlesbrough and Swindon Town occupy the play-off places.Aston Villa FC News – VillaMAD . Astonvilla-mad.co.uk (30 September 1987). Retrieved on 23 March 2011.
2 October 1987 – Tottenham Hotspur sell defender Richard Gough to Rangers for £1.5million – a record fee for a British defender.
10 October 1987 – Everton's Graeme Sharp and Adrian Heath bag braces as Chelsea are beaten 4–1 at Goodison Park. Paul Wilkinson scores the only goal of the game as Nottingham Forest beat Derby County in the first East Midlands derby of the season.
12 October 1987 – More than three years after leaving Fulham, Malcolm Macdonald makes a management comeback with Second Division strugglers Huddersfield Town.
14 October 1987 – England beat Turkey 8–0 in a European Championship qualifier at Wembley, repeating the scoreline achieved in a 1986 World Cup qualifier in Istanbul in November 1984.
15 October 1987 – Newcastle United sign 18-year-old striker Michael O'Neill from Coleraine of Northern Ireland for £55,000.
16 October 1987 – Sheffield Wednesday sign defender Nigel Pearson from Shrewsbury Town for £250,000.
17 October 1987 – Liverpool move to the top of the First Division by thrashing previous leaders Queens Park Rangers 4–0 at Anfield.
19 October 1987 – Liverpool sign Oxford United and Republic of Ireland winger Ray Houghton for £825,000.Ray Houghton: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 8 June 2013
23 October 1987 – David Pleat resigns after 15 months as manager of Tottenham Hotspur, following allegations that he was involved in kerb crawling.
27 October 1987 – Tottenham Hotspur appoint Terry Venables as their new manager.
28 October 1987 – Everton knock Liverpool out of the League Cup with a 1–0 win at Anfield in the third round.
31 October 1987 – Arsenal and Queens Park Rangers share leadership of the First Division, but Liverpool, just one point behind, have three games in hand. Charlton Athletic remain bottom of the table, and are joined by Watford and Norwich City in the relegation zone. Bradford City now have a six-point lead at the top of the Second Division, their nearest rivals being Middlesbrough and Hull City. Aston Villa now stand fourth, with Ipswich Town and Birmingham City close behind.Aston Villa FC News – VillaMAD . Astonvilla-mad.co.uk (31 October 1987). Retrieved on 23 March 2011.
1 November 1987 – Liverpool move back to the top of the First Division table by beating Everton 2–0 in the Merseyside derby. 31-year-old England midfielder Ray Wilkins returns to Britain after more than three years away when he signs for Rangers in a £250,000 move from Paris St Germain.
7 November 1987 – Second Division promotion chasers Manchester City beat struggling Huddersfield Town 10–1 at Maine Road. Three players - Paul Stewart, David White and Tony Adcock - score hat-tricks.
10 November 1987 – 21-year-old Walsall striker David Kelly scores a hat-trick on his debut for the Republic of Ireland in their 5–0 win over Israel in Dublin.
11 November 1987 – England seal European Championship qualification with a 4–1 win over Yugoslavia in Belgrade. A Gary McKay goal gives Scotland a 1–0 win in Bulgaria, a result that allows the Republic of Ireland, managed by former 1966 World Cup winner Jack Charlton, to qualify for their first major tournament.
19 November 1987 – Liverpool reject an offer from Bayern Munich for Danish midfielder Jan Molby. Aston Villa boost their Second Division promotion quest with a £150,000 move for Crystal Palace midfielder Andy Gray.
20 November 1987 – Elton John agrees to sell Watford to Robert Maxwell's British Printing and Communication Corporation for £2million.